New Home Server Build Help

[beelzibub]

I'm looking to build a home server so I can offload some programs from my main pc to improve performance (PlayOn media server, Sqeezebox server, etc) and introduce a backup and storage system. I've done some Googling and searched the [H] forums a bit, but with the way software/hardware develop so quickly most of the information seems dated. A few months back I was looking at using WHS as the OS, but now I'm not sure that'll be the best option and I'm open to any suggestions. I've built my fair share of PC's and I'm pretty computer literate, so going the route of a Linux based software doesn't scare me though I'd still like to have something that's somewhat simple to setup and maintain.

I've looked at the ASUS HTPC motherboards with the built in AMD Fusion processors and they seem pretty nice, but I'm unsure if they are really what I should be looking at. Will this be enough power to stream videos over my network and act as a storage and network manager at the same time? I've also seen some people mention that the Intel i3 processors are good for a more powerful home server...any opinions on this?

Here's a list of what I'd like my server to do:
-around 4TB of storage space with room to expand
-stream media over my home network
-manage multiple PC and Mac backups
-manage network traffic
-possibly allow remote access to the home network

I'm hoping you guys can make some suggestions for hardware and software to help me get a build list started. Thanks in advance!

 

[s0rce]

The AMD fusion APU (e-350) will definately have enough power to stream 1080p and run various network apps. There are a couple threads around discussing them. I run solaris 11 express on mine with 4x 2TB Hitachi 5k3000 HDs. I run sabnzbd+sickbeard, asterisk (voip), transmission (torrents) and some other network stuff and it runs great (no gui but I remote admin).

I'm using the ASRock E-350 board because its cheap.

more info here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1609230

edit: I use ssh tunnels to access the rest of my network remotely via this computer but I don't use it as a router, I don't like having the Internet down when I take the server down for maintenance.